Various types of foot and leg prosthetic devices are well known in the art. Such devices frequently include some form of attachment for coupling the device to the distal end of the limb of the amputee and for extending to the ground to provide body support. Leg prosthesis are generally of two types, being an above knee prosthesis and a below knee prosthesis. One form of below-knee prosthesis is fabricated as an assembly having a flexible roll-on suction suspension sleeve, a socket, a shuttle lock, a lower leg component and a foot. The shuttle lock provides rigid attachment of the suspension sleeve to the socket and lower leg component.
Some currently available shuttle lock components utilized in below-knee prosthesis designs consist of a ratchet style or clutch style cylindrical body portion having a hole for receipt of the suspension sleeve pin. The body includes a release button to disengage a gear located within the body from the pin.
A problem with existing types of shuttle lock designs is that the cylindrical body must become intregal and permanently molded to the prosthetic socket during fabrication. If the cylindrical body is improperly positioned during fabrication, the pin may not align easily and consistently with the shuttle lock latching mechanism. The only alternative is either to refabricate the socket, which can be time consuming and generate additional costs, or try to train the patient to overcome the difficulty he faces in donning the prosthesis.
Consequently, there exists a need for a new and improved shuttle lock for a below knee prosthesis that can be positioned and repositioned at any time on the distal socket to provide on-axis alignment of the pin to the body of the shuttle lock to alleviate patient frustration and eliminate rejection of an improperly aligned socket.